Kenny Williams on Hideki Matsui and Chone Figgins

“I think he’s an excellent outfielder and I think he’s a World Series MVP. How can I not have as much respect for him as I could possibly have?” said the White Sox general manager with a wry smile. “I would imagine he’s going to command in salary more than we can afford to pay him. But should he want what we have available … you never know.”

This philosophy espoused by Williams in regard to Matsui should pretty much be applied to any and all big-ticket free agents where the White Sox are concerned. At least that image was depicted by Williams during his 45-minute chat on the state of the White Sox and Major League Baseball’s general economic climate. During a Friday conference call, Williams mentioned how the White Sox would spend whatever they had to break even, but there wasn’t much there to spend. That idea was driven home again Monday. “Our bottom line is we are not going to spend more than we have,” Williams said. “Well, there’s always hope that people get excited about the club. The economy comes back up and advertising and sponsorship levels increase. I know our marketing and sales people are working their tails off to try to find new ways to bring in revenue. “So, whatever we have, we will work with it and try to be creative, if necessary,” Williams said.

and Chone Figgins:

Williams was pushed a little further on this matter, asked if the White Sox had money for one free-agent addition. He quickly smiled and said it would depend on who that free agent would be. When the name brought up as an example was Chone Figgins, the Angels’ outstanding leadoff man, Williams didn’t hesitate in knocking down that present possibility. “If you are asking me today if we have those kinds of dollars, the answer is no,” Williams said. “We don’t have that kind of money.” …